before president obama enters his second term, officials in pyongyang want the americans to recognize their challenge such as the middle east and afghanistan. another reason it's related to south korea's presidential election scheduled on december 19th. the north koreans hope that the new government will return. they have criticized the conservative candidate for her stance on relations. the missile launch can be seen as a way of pushing the south koreans towards the hard line. >> i see. china is a longtime ally of north korea. how do you see its role? >> i believe china can greatly influence the united nations' reaction. after the previous launch in april, the united nations issued a statement of condemnation. the day before the north's announcement of this launch by its chairman of china's national peoples congress to meet with kim jong-un. the launch announcement the folling y causehe chinese to lose face. this time they have strongly urged restraint. also, i think it is important to closely watch how they react. >> thanks very much, hiroki. >>> security analysts in the u.s. and el